


It's mine

by sin0sijak



Category: iKON (Korea Band)
Genre: High School AU, M/M, your fav: the president vs school thug au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:53:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23386165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sin0sijak/pseuds/sin0sijak
Summary: Mr. "Koo-My-way." He was notorious for not caring if it didn't concern him. And a lot of things did not concern him. In fact, it was just easier to say that nothing concerned him. He didn't pick fights, he didn't give kids a hard time, but everybody naturally left him alone to do as he pleased. A very unconventional school 'jjang' if you weren't looking at his harsh features and tall muscular physique. All in all Junhoe really didn't go out of his way to do anything, much less claim something that didn't even belong to him. Now how did this happen? And does it have to do with the wide eyed, chestnut haired, small beauty staring at him puzzled? Maybe. Possibly. Probably... Yeah, it totally does.
Relationships: Goo Junhoe/Kim Donghyuk, iKON - Relationship
Comments: 1
Kudos: 30





	It's mine

**Author's Note:**

> TW: The word "suicide" is used - not a huge part of the story  
> Domestic struggles
> 
> As if it's not enough I'm not finishing my chapter fics I'm working on other oneshots? Yeah... Anyway, happy almost Junhoe's birthday!

Junhoe sighs loudly and crushes the tiny cardboard box in his palm as the contents inside shoot out like little snakes and drop lifelessly to the ground. Why did he do it? Why did he, the Mr. Koo-my-way, literally go out of his way to help someone he’s never even interacted with before? He knows, he’s fucking stupid. It wasn’t his place. He didn’t have to do it. His sister was going to beat the shit out of him while giving him an earful (yes, she had the ability to hit and talk at the same time it was quite admirable if it didn’t hurt so badly). He’s being extra dramatic, but he looks over the edge of the roof and briefly contemplates just flinging himself over - in truly angsty high school loner boy fashion.

Pause.

I suppose you’re wondering what exactly caused this good but terribly misunderstood boy to be where he is now.

It started right before the final bell from lunch rang. Junhoe was leaned as far back as he could go in the rickety wooden chair, his eyes wandering over the ceiling and squinting slightly from the sunlight. It wasn’t quite spring yet but the flowers were budding and the weather was surprisingly nice. The breeze was sweet to the smell and (although a bit chilly) Junhoe liked the freshness against his skin. He remembers he had the window propped open and the girl in front of him shivers, but nobody dares to ask him to close it.

That’s how it always was. After the last year of middle school he had hit a major growth spurt. It looked like he was going to keep growing though because he is now a senior and starting to pass up 180 cm. Not to mention his biceps could probably crush some of the kid’s skulls with apt ease. It was always school work then straight to the gymnasium and weight room for Junhoe. Hence, nobody bothered him or dreamed about bothering him any time soon. That’s how he liked it.

Human relationships. They were… complicated. To put simply. Junhoe didn’t enjoy them, to be frank. He hated guessing if what he said was appropriate, if someone was annoyed or happy or upset. He hated the mechanics of it, really. Reading facial expressions? Waiting for his turn to express himself? Sounded like a bother. What was especially worse was imagining building any sort of symbiotic relationship with the heathens of his class… except for maybe one of them.

Junhoe’s minding his business and staring blankly at the back of the class president’s perfectly round head when the nuisances pile in. With the way they trip over each other every single day you’d think they’d learn by now that the maximum capacity of their classroom door is two people and not, let’s say, six. Junhoe can’t help itching his forehead in stress as he sees them toss around a baseball. Where’d they even get that? He watches without much thought as the small object goes sailing through the air and lands right in class president’s open bag. Ha. What stupid luck. Donghyuk immediately swoops down for the ball when Minsu intercepts the bag from off the floor.

“Let’s look at what’s in prez’s stuff!”

“Kim Minsu stop!”

Donghyuk bolts up and all but lunges for the flimsy grey bag that has its flap wide open. Minsu mockingly dances around and even tosses the bag away to others for good measure as Donghyuk struggles to keep his eyes locked on the target.

“What could there possibly be? Books? Notes?” Minsu throws his uninvited meaty hand into the organized duffle and starts mixing things around like it’s his own personal caldron. It annoys Junhoe, for reasons unknown. Perhaps it’s the noise. Yes. The hooting and cheering and laughing from that ridiculous group is really ruining the last few minutes of freedom he has before math.

“What’s thi-- holy shit…”

The class collectively gets quite as Minsu pulls out a small rectangular object. A banned item. Something they all should not see on school grounds yet know really well what it is. An item that’s too taboo even for a fool like Minsu to have around.

“W-why does the class president have.. C-cigaret-”

“It’s mine.”

Minsu shuts up and immediately reaches out with shaky hands to give the object over. Junhoe raises from his seat like this is all an unfortunate revelation and not a bombshell that has him quivering like a leaf on the inside. He doesn’t know what came over him, but looking at Donghyuk shamefully staring at his shoes and unable to even formulate a word (when usually he can just give speeches on the spot) made Junhoe speak without thinking twice.

It feels like the classroom is longer than usual as Junhoe moves at an unreal pace. It’s like his legs are wading through thick molasses and his tongue is tied to the back of his throat. Gulping unceremoniously, Junhoe finally gets to the front of the class, with utter silence trailing his wake, and snatches the pack like he’s the owner. The object, weight and size, feels utterly foreign to him and he has no idea what he should do with it. If he thought that taking it would push an imaginary ‘play’ button so that everything would resume like normal he was sorely disappointed. All the students continued their stare-off, eyes tracking the package with a mix of fear and interest. Junhoe scowls at this. Somehow, without looking like a blundering fool, he flicks open the box and slides a slim smoke up. ‘Shit…’ without a plan he nimbly takes the cigarette between his teeth and clamps his mouth over it before turning to the class. The students are unified in their flinching.

“What’re you fuckwads looking at? I dropped the pack into prez’s bag while passing by, so what? Problem?” He kicks the desk closest to him for good measure and the girls yelp in surprise before scurrying out while muttering about bathrooms and friends next door. After half the class empties out Junhoe walks towards the back of the room and thanks the lord he’s on the first floor. He pushes the window all the way open and tells the remaining boys that if they tell on him he’ll personally “plant them like fucking radishes before kimjang season.” It was a little joke that was meant to calm Junhoe’s nerves more than anybody else. He hops out and makes a huge run for the fire exit leading to the roof. His heart pounds against his ribcage louder than all the rock songs on his ‘workout’ playlist combined. He prays to dear God that a teacher won’t catch him while he’s making the escape.

So, here he was, contemplating what he should do and how he should explain the fact that he missed class to his noona when he jumps at the sound of the heavy rooftop door being swung open. In a rush of panic Junhoe curses as he tries to collect the array of cigarettes littered around his feet.

“It’s just me…” the soft voice breaks through Junhoe’s cold sweat and makes him look up. Just is not the right word. What kind of student ‘just’ runs for class president, wins by popular vote, always has his perfectly tailored uniform buttoned to the top, and carries a pack of smokes to class? Junhoe snorts at the juxtaposition. Kim Donghyuk was really what one would call ‘two faced’ and it seemed like Junhoe was the only one in the whole school who knew about it because the fact of the matter was:

“Did you come to get these back?” Junhoe half heartedly shoves a smoke that rolled near the edge of his sneakers and shrugs like it’s totally not his fault the perfectly fine cigarettes were spilled all over the green rooftop. Donghyuk shakes his head and looks down while biting his bottom lip. It doesn’t look like he wants to explain and Junhoe’s not really in a mood to make chit chat either so he instead crouches down to forcefully shove the deserter pipes of cancer into their cardboard prison. Unsure of what to do (but not keen on handing the full box back to Donghyuk) Junhoe ends up shoving the already battered box into his uniform’s small jacket pocket. He’ll get rid of it discreetly somehow. Maybe he’ll sneak into the teacher’s lounge since they’re all conducting class. Already formulating a plan, Junhoe’s set to leave when Donghyuk reaches for his arm.

“Please don’t tell anyone.”

Junhoe signs heavily before looking down (and he really means down because with how Donghyuk is drilling holes into the rooftop Junhoe also stands about 10 cm taller than the small male). “If I wanted everyone to know, I wouldn’t have claimed them in the first place?”

Donghyuk coughs awkwardly and lets Junhoe’s arm free. He opts to scratch the back of his head before nodding, “Right. I- thank you.”

Junhoe shrugs like it’s no big deal despite the fact that it was a very big deal and he was going to freak out about this for the rest of the semester, probably.

“Can I repay you?” Donghyuk asks, turning to speak to Junhoe’s back. Junhoe almost feels like groaning. Can’t he just leave in peace? Then again… payment was not a bad idea. Yeah. Why shouldn’t he get paid? He risked a lot by stepping up to claim these items that weren’t his. What if a teacher had been close by? What if the teacher walked in early right then? He could risk detention for weeks! Or worse, suspension! Now wouldn’t that be something? A ticket for ‘murder by noona’ for sure. Also likely a headline - YeonGo High School’s one and only scholarship student kicked out and killed by his enraged family member! Yup… Junhoe indeed risked a lot. And for what? A friend? Hardly. The nice kid? Well, Donghyuk wasn’t particularly nice to him; he was just like that to everyone. Junhoe turns around thinking deeply and comes face to face with wide brown round shiny peering eyes.

“Ahh…” when did he get this close.

“I can give you anything. Do you need stuff? A game? New clothes?”

Junhoe thinks for a moment. That’s right. Kim Donghyuk was from a world that’s completely different from his own. Where game systems and designer goods and limited edition stuff were handed to him in ample quantities. Where he could even choose from them! He was a rich kid. A trust fund kid who didn’t even need the trust fund to be at an advantage against his peers. Anything. New makeup for his sister, bags for her to take to her interviews, shoes so she can walk comfortably and fashionably, a new bed? Could he even push the envelope and ask for a new apartment? Maybe they can finally move to a place with hot water and insulation. A million things he needed ran through his mind as Donghyuk patiently, without a hint of annoyance in his innocent sparkly eyes, waited.

“Can you tutor me until finals?”

Once again. Here he goes. Blurting out the unnecessary without even thinking everything through properly. 

Donghyuk tilts his head in confusion but doesn’t dwell on what a weird request it was. He was honestly expecting Junhoe to ask for cold hard cash (a favorite amongst the students here) or limited edition basketball shoes (as he WAS a star player on the team). “Okay. I can do that,” Donghyuk nods while visualizing his schedule in his mind. “How about I come over to your place on-”

Junhoe holds up his hand to halt Donghyuk mid-suggestion. “I have one rule. I go to you.”

Donghyuk frowns and fiddles with the end of his cardigan sleeve. It’s almost like he was screaming about how uncomfortable that idea made him without actually verbalizing the thought, but Junhoe is resiliently silent. Donghyuk eventually caves, nodding twice with hesitation. He was the one who owed Junhoe big time anyway so… “Okay. You can come home with me after schools on Fridays. Does that work?”

Junhoe nods once, “I don’t have practice then so it works. See you, President.”

“See you, Koo J-”

The door slams shut.

* * *

Junhoe wonders if it’s too late to just ask for a blank check. The car smells sickeningly clean like it’s been scrubbed with disinfectants then polished like a leather shoe every day since it was manufactured. Donghyuk, being the nice kid he was, offers him a soda from the mini fridge and Junhoe feels like crawling out of his own skin. He definitely does not belong here. The roads they pass by, entering deeper into the complex and bright modern city buildings doesn’t make him feel better. Helixes of orange and red cling to blocks of concrete. Even the buildings are dressed better than him.

“We’re here, Young master Donghyuk. Young master Junhoe.” The driver’s mellifluous voice jars Junhoe out of his trance and he all but catapults himself outside of the open side door. He doesn’t forget to mutter a ‘thank you’ to the driver who blinks a few times before nodding promptly, “You’re welcome, young master.” Donghyuk laughs looking at the driver’s face and thanks him cheerfully as well.

“He’s not used to my friends saying thanks. You know how some guys are.”

Junhoe raises an eyebrow, “uncultured assholes?”

Donghyuk smirks, “exactly.”

Junhoe honestly doesn’t know where he got the confidence to downright flame Donghyuk’s friends, but Donghyuk seems to agree? See- this is exactly why Junhoe’s so adversed to the idea of befriending someone. What’s the point if you were all going to hate each other’s guts? He has no time to dwell on the failed prospect of friendship because the elevator opens up and leads to… a single door.

“All floors of this building are a single house,” Donghyuk helpfully chips in while casually pressing his thumb into the fingerprint reading door lock. It chimes jovially as the door unlatches and lets Junhoe into (probably) the most ‘extra’ entranceway. A fountain gurgles as all sorts of greenery bubbles out of it like a little square from the jungle was cut out then pasted to the middle of the marble flooring. Statues of angels stand on either side as Junhoe grips the wall to carefully remove his sneakers. “Here,” Donghyuk easily throws down a pair of inside slippers, “make yourself at home.”

Junhoe chokes. Home? This isn't a home. It’s a fortress. He’s afraid he’ll step on the wrong tile and go spiraling down into some hidden dungeon. Quenching his irrational fears, Junhoe follows Donghyuk down the hall, past the empty and eerily quiet living room and down another hall that leads to Donghyuk’s bedroom. A bedroom that, Junhoe quickly realizes, could fit his whole shabby half-basement of a house into it about 3 times. That wasn’t even counting the walk in closet or the bathroom.

Donghyuk makes a beeline for the desk and proudly tells Junhoe he asked the butler to put in another chair. Junhoe nods and says that was thoughtful of him which in turn has Donghyuk laughing happily. He was a pretty easy guy to make happy. Not that Junhoe was intentionally on a mission to satisfy Donghyuk or anything. It was just a regular observation.

***

The tutoring session ends up being Junhoe stuffing his face with fruits that one of the aunties brought out while Donghyuk asks for the nth time if he was paying attention. Junhoe swears he is. Then he swears that these are the best strawberries he’s had in his life. 

“Be honest. You wanted these sessions so you can come eat, didn’t you?”

Junhoe tries to feign innocence but gives up quickly. It was partly true. He tried to think about how he could smuggle as many meals out of Donghyuk’s pocket as possible and this long term contract seemed to be the only way. Although, now that Junhoe has ample time to think about it he supposes he could have let “buy me food until the semester ends” suffice as a good deal. There was no need to necessarily come to Donghyuk’s house after school all the time, was there?

The AC is blasting and even his desk chair is comfortable. Then again, maybe this was the best. Junhoe’s not sure how to answer and Donghyuk just sighs heavily saying he wouldn’t even want to hear it.

“I should have known…”

Junhoe lazily reaches over to loosen his tie and leans back into the seat, “known what?”

Donghyuk puts the pencil down with vigour and glares at Junhoe, “you’re always sleeping during class so I should have known you didn’t care about grades.”

Junhoe raises his eyebrow, “now how did you get to the conclusion that I don’t care about grades?”

Donghyuk scoffs, “naturally someone not even listening to the teacher--”

“I listen,” Junhoe cuts off while picking at his ear in annoyance, “he just has a miserable face to look at.”

Donghyuk spits air at the ridiculous argument but chooses to pursue the topic no further. He wasn’t about to hear that he was a terrible tutor just because Junhoe couldn’t pull himself together.

Junhoe smiles amused at Donghyuk’s distressed ramblings and peaks at the books. In actuality the sports scholarship pays for only sports related stuff. His uniform, food, therapy (if needed), as well as his equipment. The academic scholarship was paying for his tuition and books meaning Junhoe was actually right below Donghyuk in grades with a 4.2 GPA and almost spotless record. Yeah he got a 91 in Bio the semester before but he was seriously dead tired from training and bulking up even more while filling in as acting captain when Hanbin had his injury. It was a lucky thing that due to societal pressure (read, suspiciously high suicide rates) grades became privetized at their school. A rare thing for South Korea, but much needed. Students took sealed reports back to their parents instead of searching for themselves tediously in a long list of ranked names that set a hierarchy perfect for bullying and judgement. Junhoe was definitely taking advantage of the system, but hey! You do what you have to.

“So x is?” Donghyuk asks and shows the option. Junhoe stops himself from immediately responding A to scratch his head. “That one?” he points at C and then shrugs like his bet is as good as any. Donghyuk slowly lets out air through his nostrils and says “It’s A…” Junhoe pulls a ‘really?’ face as he scrunches his thick eyebrows and squints at the page like it just changed the order on him by magic. Without suspecting a single thing Donghyuk rips out the notebook paper and says that he’ll take it from the top once more. Junhoe secretly lets himself smile. Someone give him an Oscar for that performance, honestly!

* * *

Within a few sessions (and lots of exasperated Donghyuk’s later) “see you next week” became “see you in a few days” which became “see you tomorrow.” Donghyuk had insisted Junhoe needed a lot more help than he had thought initially and call it stubbornness or call it pride but he was determined to see Junhoe’s grades rise. Of course he could have given up and done the minimum Junhoe had hoped for, but with Donghyuk’s personality “half-assed” wasn’t an option.

Junhoe on the other hand found this exchange complicated as soon as he started worrying about Donghyuk’s moods and thinking about Donghyuk even on weekends that was to be conserved soley for all things unrelated to school. Oh, also, Donghyuk becomes the only number he has from school and every time his old, almost dying, iphone 5 dings he bolts for it hoping to see a certain name. Yeah. It's definitely concerning.

“Did something happen today?” Junhoe asks, worry clearly etched on a face that didn’t look like it’d go well with that particular emotion. Donghyuk heaves a sigh that sounds like the world is ending yet shakes his head. “It’s nothing.”

It's obviously not just nothing.

Donghyuk is Donghyuk, but Junhoe is also a character that’s not to be reckoned with. “Tell me or I’ll flip this whole place over.”

It was supposed to be a threat, but blame the atmosphere and blame Junhoe’s raised eyebrows that frame his soft eyes filled with concern because Donghyuk is reassured. To the point that useless tears threaten to spill from his eyes. Instead though, Donghyuk opts to spill a cigarette out of his secret stash while Junhoe silently waits.

“You’re not going to say anything?” Donghyuk asks, patting around for his lighter.

Junhoe shrugs, “not my place, really.” Although he does wish Donghyuk would quit.

“It’s just my dad… he’s kind of strict,” Donghyuk inhales deeply while Junhoe takes the cigarette from his mouth to wordlessly squeeze it in between his own lips.

“Hey-”

Junhoe chokes before Donghyuk can even process what’s happening.

“That thing is vile.”

Donghyuk takes it back and sucks a storm cloud of smoke before grabbing Junhoe’s nape and turning so they’re facing each other. Junhoe freezes under Donghyuk’s grip and swallows expectantly. He could move, sure, but also he can’t. He physically cannot see himself pushing Donghyuk away and pulling back. Donghyuk smirks and blows a whole fluffy cloud of cancer in Junhoe’s face making him tear up. 

“You asshole.”

“You know it.”

Junhoe glares before cracking up because of Donghyuk’s amused lower lip that’s struggling to hold the cigarette still between his teeth. “It’s so unfair nobody else knows you’re unbearable.”

“Cause nobody would believe you” Donghyuk helps, wiggling his eyebrows like he won. Which he totally did.

In reality though, perhaps Junhoe is happy that nobody else knows. That he’s the only one who sees Donghyuk smirking instead of smiling sunnily. That he’s the only one who hears Donghyuk complain about his ‘picture perfect’ family. That he’s the only one who could jokingly grab Donghyuk’s necktie and pretend to choke him in frustration when a question doesn’t go the way he’d like. Junhoe can bet he’s the only one in the entire school who could be a hair width from Donghyuk’s lips even as they slowly try to close off his airways. He feels as if the breathlessness isn’t from just the smoke alone and this feeling should be his only. Even as a kid Junhoe hated sharing. He already had so little. Why did he have to give even that away? All he had was all self made. Except for Donghyuk. Donghyuk was the one person who he couldn’t really call his, but he wanted it. He realizes as Donghyuk snubs the cigarette without attempting to give him another wiff that he wants him. Within the next second as Butler Lee wheels in a cart of strawberries on a gold lined platter and wordlessly opens the window to let in fresh air Junhoe also realizes at the speed of light that he was yearning for the one thing he could not have.

To him, Donghyuk could be the air in his lungs and all the breaths he takes. To Donghyuk he’s a roll of paper and ash - easily burnt up and crushed in a tray. Expendable trash. All traces gone. Carried by a breezy wind through an open window.

* * *

Once he admits that he may have had a thing for secret bad boy class president angel Donghyuk Junhoe was way too jittery to be low key. Even if he had to rate himself he’d say it was a solid -5/100 performance. Every little thing that used to be so fine before was suddenly too much for him to bear. Donghyuk brushing his hand away to look at his work had Junhoe choking on his own spit. Donghyuk casually pushing an orange slice into his mouth as he worked made his mind run wild and go blank in the next second. Donghyuk’s hand sliding down his back once made Junhoe freeze and sweat pour out so suddenly Donghyuk asked if he was sick and needed a ride home.

At one point Junhoe remembers that Donghyuk’s thigh was pressed against his own throughout the whole lesson and he had to go to the bathroom. Three times. With the water on full blast he had all but cried into his two hands in agony. This was torture. He wondered if Donghyuk even knew what he was doing. Probably not, right?

Why would he know. In certain aspects it seemed Donghyuk was a bit… oblivious. It was definitely not innocence seeing as he could throw a dirty joke here and there as well as smoke a string of cigarettes without blinking. Maybe he was numb to the signals and clues now because everybody liked Donghyuk. Every year his locker was overflowing with flowers and cards and all sorts of chocolates from all over the lands. He couldn’t even carry it all - he had to call a butler to come scoop it all away. Every person who interacted with him would blink a little too often, twist their bodies as if they were a twizzler and twirl their hair until Junhoe was pretty sure they’d bald. All the signs of a “please mate me” and Donghyuk would just finish his official business of checking notes before nodding and returning to his book. Like he totally didn’t get it.

What were the chances that someone like that - someone who was everyone’s crush and didn’t know - could tell he, Koo Junhoe, the ice cube in room 3-1, liked him? The chances were slim to none, right?

It was just obvious because Junhoe knew himself. That’s the conclusion he made as he washed his face in freezing water and vigorously scrubbed himself dry with the white cotton towel. Shit. Even this towel smelled like him.

“Junhoe?” Donghyuk knocks which makes him jump right out of his trance.

“Hey? Sorry… I wasn’t feeling too well.”

Donghyuk looks at him expectantly before suddenly putting his own hand on Junhoe’s forehead. “You don’t have a fever… do you still want to continue the lesson?”

Junhoe wants to sob. Dear Lord, no. But of course, his mouth and his heart have different pathways and different plans entirely, “Yeah. We were on limits, right?”

“Sequences,” Donghyuk chuckles, that adorable goddamn chuckle, “but close.”

* * *

“What?” Donghyuk asks.

Junhoe quickly adverts his attention to the calculator and messes with the keys out of embarrassment. He was caught staring. He actually tended to look quite a lot but if Donghyuk ever noticed he didn’t say anything. This time though, even Junhoe admits he overdid it. He got too invested in watching Donghyuk roll the cherries in his mouth expertly before spitting out the seeds.

“Koo Junhoe.”

“What?” Junhoe gruffly answers while glaring at his paper with much loating. The panic is evident in the way that his pen stops and starts bleeding a whole puddle into his notebook. If Donghyuk had mercy in him he sure didn’t show that either as he stays quiet for a suffocating minute before ending his strike with a keen observation.

“Your ears are red.”

* * *

“Happy birthday!” Donghyuk drops a box onto the desk and Junhoe shakes his head already formulating his rejection and how he can’t when Donghyuk stops him, “if you don’t take it I’ll throw it out.”

Junhoe sighs before reluctantly opening the nice wrapping. The thing he hated above all was owing something to somebody, but perhaps Donghyuk hated that as well. As they spent a lot of days tutoring he realized that their personalities were quite similar. Of course, their circumstances and backgrounds made their reactions differ drastically at times, but some things are consistent for all humans. Junhoe guesses that Donghyuk doesn’t want to owe him for constantly keeping his secret.

“Uhhh….” Junhoe looks at the soju shot glasses and raises an eyebrow. “I’m still in high school.”

“Internationally you’re 18 so you're an adult. We should drink after the final.”

Junhoe doesn’t like that the final is so fast approaching but nods anyway. If it means they can meet again even after the whole tutor relationship is over he’ll take it. “Okay. If you’re buying.” It’s his attempt at a joke and Donghyuk laughs a little like it’s ridiculous. “Of course.”

* * *

“Do you just want to watch a movie?” Donghyuk asks, killing his cigarette and wheeling away from the desk in his rotating chair.

“That bad?” Junhoe asks, looking at his scribbles and already knowing himself that it was atrocious. His proofs had no official work, just useless numbers put in successions.

“You already know the answer to that,” Donghyuk helpfully points out as he heads for the couch in the space next to his in-room office. Junhoe follows awkwardly while undoing a few buttons of his shirt and pulling at his red tie.

Donghyuk looks at him with pursed lips before saying, “do you want to change?”

Junhoe can’t help but let his eyes scan Donghyuk from head to toe. Yup, still a small adorable dude. “I’m at least a head taller than you.”

Donghyuk scoffs, “I have oversized stuff. Wait here.”

Junhoe comes out in comfortable sweats and an oversized tee only to see that the lights were switched off, blackout curtains lowered, and the movie was…

“What the fuck?” Junhoe’s pretty sure he can light up the room all by himself, standing like a red lamp post.

Donghyuk tells him to shut up and sit down. Junhoe slightly leans himself onto the furthest arm rest on the two person couch and tries his best to act completely comfortable. Donghyuk looks up.

“Are you kidding?”

Without much choice Junhoe slides down onto the seat and looks for a cushion to help him. To no avail. “Do we have to watch this?” he whispers at Donghyuk who whispers back that his hyungs were all saying it was decently made. Junhoe tries to look for the plot and finds none. It’s really just porn.

“Who said the plot was decent? The cinematography.”

Right. As if Junhoe’s ever really watched porn… how would he have access to it? He didn’t have a desktop at home he only did his online assignments at PC bangs (pc rooms). It’s not like he could secretly jerk off in public or in the one room half-basement he shared with his one and only older sister. Meanwhile Donghyuk looks like watching porn with friends is a dandy, fine, totally normal high school boy thing and it’s making Junhoe’s head swim.

“I don’t do this with everyone, if you’re wondering.”

“Right.” Junhoe coughs. At times he’s sure Donghyuk is a psychic. He tries to ignore the stares that he can feel and represses the urge to peek at Donghyuk through his peripheral vision in fear of making eye contact. He’s silently singing the national anthem in his head in hopes to calm down when Donghyuk leans over him to turn off the small mood lamp on the side table.

Oh, for the love of all things holy.

“You’re not used to this, huh?” Donghyuk finally asks, seeing Junhoe squirm endlessly while holding his breath. “Breath, you’re going to die.” How his voice is so calm is beyond Junhoe. He tries to exhale, but his breath cuts like short choppy waves and makes him cough which is the closest thing he can do to crying without actually sobbing.

“You’ve never watched a rated movie?” Donghyuk questions, tugging Junhoe back so his back is pressed flat against the back of the sofa. Junhoe quickly shakes his head, “literally t-too poor for porn…” he tries to laugh at himself but sweats instead as Donghyuk’s sigh tickles his hair.

“Need help?” There’s a gleam in Donghyuk’s eye that can’t be found when he’s flipping through a textbook and Junhoe’s so distressed he just nods enthusiastically as if Donghyuk asked if he’d like his life saved from being thrown over a bridge into an ocean.

“Aigoo,” Donghyuk coos like he thinks Junhoe’s the cutest thing in the world, “this hyung will teach you something very useful.” Donghyuk takes Junhoe’s hand in his right while hooking the band to HIS trainers in his left and tugging.

“You look good in my sweats by the way,” Donghyuk muses, his fingers expertly maneuvering through folds of fabric. Junhoe finally spills tears and cries. He wants to hide his scrunched face in embarrassment, but Donghyuk tells him to forget it.

So Donghyuk knew all along. It’s no surprise. Even Junhoe knows he was so obviously entranced by Donghyuk it wasn’t even funny. At one point it was sad... They say that when you don’t like somebody back it’s so painfully obvious to tell if they like you or not. Junhoe wants… he hopes… no, he prays that’s not how Donghyuk knew. He wanted Donghyuk to like him back. Even if it was foolish or impossible maybe he hoped Donghyuk would never figure out that Junhoe liked him before he realized he himself liked Junhoe.

But Junhoe realizes that all that wistful and philosophical thinking was on the back burner. He’s still a guy. Poor or not he’s an animal that still moves and is moved by instinct. Whether Donghyuk liked him back or not, right now all he cared about was the fact that Donghyuk’s hands were sliding over his body and they were going to stay there.

Junhoe feels Donghyuk’s weight slide off the sofa and bites his lower lip so hard it would hurt if it wasn’t for the euphoria exploding throughout his body like fireworks on a summer night.

Junhoe learns a lot more than just calculus from Donghyuk that day.

* * *

If Junhoe was expecting an awkward ‘after’ situation he was wholly mistaken. Donghyuk was definitely a much more amazing character than he could ever fathom. Sucking on his strawberry lollipop joyfully Donghyuk waves at him and tells him the driver is waiting.

“Do you want one?” he holds up an array of sugary pops and Junhoe feels like fighting him in public. “Junhoe?”

Junhoe shakes his head and deadpans, “I don’t really like sweets.”

Donghyuk pouts like he was offended at the notion that someone could not like candy. “Such a shame. I was going to give you something really sweet when we got home.”

Junhoe glares while his face heats like an oven. It’s the sun. It’s the hot spring afternoon. He forces himself to believe it until Donghyuk leans closer to whisper, “It’s a bummer. I’m really sweet if you ever change your mind.”

* * *

_**“We’re friends with benefits,** _   
_**a weird relationship that I wanna break together** _   
_**I wanna call you baby, but I can’t”** _

Junhoe wakes to someone pulling the earbud out of his ear.

“What are you listening to?”

Panicked, he yanks the wire and hears a dissapoint fizzling as the music suddenly goes silent.

“Shot!” Donghyuk looks genuinely upset and grabs the destroyed wire, “I’m sorry! Let’s replace these!”

Junhoe tells him there’s no need and says he can borrow his sister’s from time to time. “Really, it’s not your fault it’s mine.”

Donghyuk looks unsettled but doesn't pursue the topic further and instead says that he'll promise to go easy on Junhoe during the lesson.

* * *

"Here you go," Donghyuk beams at him and Junhoe wants to throw the present right back at him.

He knows Donghyuk means well. He knows that despite the questionable habits and "evil" ways - aka using Junhoe's feelings without giving an answer - Donghyuk actually really is a kind hearted person. He leaves food out in the neighborhood for stray cats, he says "please" and "thank you very much" to all workers that come in contact with him, he treats even his competition in school with etiquette. He's unhateable. He never means to do harm. It was Junhoe who was harming himself. His low self esteem, his own self worth. He wishes he can logically remember this fact at all times, but it's so hard when emotions run faster than his brain.

"Who said I needed this?" His words are like ice and it doesn't help that Junhoe has perfected his flat affect.

Donghyuk steps back like there's a physical force in Junhoe's words. "I just thought-"

"Stop thinking then. Who do you think you are?"

"We're friends so-"

"Don't go overboard. You're just the smart kid who's my tutor."

It's such a childish response. For what? Pride? Because he's tired? Junhoe knows he could have just taken the airpods and the compatable new phone and said 'thank you.' It's probably nothing for Donghyuk. Loose change. Hundreds of dollars was what he could afford to spend on snacks for the month. Junhoe knows that Donghyuk wasn't pitying him or looking down on him.There was no other meaning to it.

Maybe that was what pissed him off too.

He's so confusing. He knows it. Does he want Donghyuk to mean something or not? What were all these useless and complicated feelings mixing inside of him? Before he can either verbalize them or answer them for himself Donghyuk turns around and runs, sniffling loudly and silently snuffing out a cry.

Junhoe looks at the items Donghyuk forgot to take back despite his harsh words. He always believed this was the barrier between them. This constant reminder that Donghyuk could throw away money on the most trivial of things and not blink an eye while Junhoe worried if he'd have enough to eat a bowl of noodles as well as ride the bus home. The fact that his life was expendable - a no name kid who could shoot a few hoops and run across a wooden court - while Donghyuk and his family could be found with one search on naver.

He carefully turns to box to see a bright orange sticky note on the back that's overflowing with Donghyuk's neat rounded script.

_**"Hey Mr. Koo-lueless,** _

_**I know your phone lags like crazy... Is that your excuse for not sending me your homework? Well, I have taken it upon myself to give you the means to be a good student so that your tutor's life is a little easier, okay? I'm not just giving this out for free though, do I look like a charity to you?! I do expect an extra assignment: you must send me something as a goodnight message every single day. I've already made it easier by putting my contact into your phone so don't even try the "I didn't know your number" trick! I won't allow slacking! Personally, I like the idea of getting a voice note lullaby... what do you say?** _

_**p.s you're not special or anything. I'm just doing this as a teacher to a student.** _

_**p.s.s don't go thinking I do this with just everybody though! You're my only student... you're the only one I teach anything to. Aissh.. I'm embarrassed so don't think too hard about this!"** _

Junhoe had always thought of himself as a cigarette that would be crushed under Donghyuk's foot once he was done being interesting or useful. 

"Ahh fuck," he rips the phone out of the box before shoving everything else into his backpack and running out towards the gate.

It turns out that in the end, he had actually put Donghyuk out. Blinded by the smoking of his own enflamed ego.

* * *

"I knew I'd find you here."

Junhoe heaves and then flops himself onto the swing next to Donghyuk who immediately gets up.

Junhoe lunges and grabs his arm.

"Let me-"

"You didn't pick up my calls." Junhoe shows the phone and shakes it in front of Donghyuk's face.

"Give that back!" Donghyuk huffs angrily. He jumps for the phone that's floating above their heads in Koo Junhoe's hand. As if he weren't the clueless kid from a few weeks ago, Junhoe expertly wraps his free arm around Donghyuk's slim waist and smiles down at him with all the tenderness he could muster on his sharp features. Donghyuk makes a face like he's disgusted, but Junhoe couldn't care less. Donghyuk was always a little prickly, but that was his charm. That was also a side that only Koo Junhoe got to see.

"You can't take it back once you've given it to me," Junhoe finishes his sentence in a quick breath before leaning down to peck Donghyuk's lips.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Donghyuk wants to cover his face but Junhoe laughs mertifully while bombarding his face with kisses.

"Be honest, am I only a student or am I your only student?"

Donghyuk looks at him like he's lost his mind but Junhoe persists. This time, he sternly stares at Donghyuk to show that he's not kidding. "Do you feed all your students while they work and buy them gifts and remember their birthdays and watch 'movies' with them and do they all get to kiss you?"

"ofcoursenot"

"What?" Junhoe starts to grin as Donghyuk squeezes his eyes and reiterates, "OF COURSE NOT!"

"Okay then. That's all I need to know. You're not just a teacher to me. You're the first friend I made in high school who wasn't deathly afraid of me so I was afraid. I didn't want to just be a kid you teach math to and I didn't want to accept these gifts for homework." Junhoe licks his lips. He has no idea what he's saying and where this is going but his heart is about to punch through his chest and flop onto the floor so he has to keep his mouth running or he'd actually lose his mind. "At first, I just wanted to eat in a nice home, but the more I ended up..." Donghyuk looks at Junhoe with obvious hope as he hesitates.

"Liking me?" Donghyuk helpfully supplies.

Junhoe realizes he's still holding Donghyuk and steps back to clear his throat as he clears his thoughts. "Yes, as I started to have feelings for you I began to doubt everything. If you liked me back, if I was being foolish and if I was even worth anything to you." Donghyuk crosses his arms and his body language alone shouts 'why the hell would you think that?'

Junhoe jumps to explain without even being prompted to, "I thought I wasn't worth it because I'm poor, I was bullied in middle school so I don't have any important friends, I'm not the nicest guy or the coolest or... experienced." Donghyuk cracks up a tiny bit but motions for an embarrassed (and slightly seething) Junhoe to go on.

"I just thought you deserved someone better and someone from your world and I wasn't sure if you liked me back because everybody likes you! And you didn't really say anything again after we... watched that movie so I thought maybe you were disappointed or," Junhoe shrugs suddenly very hyper aware they're having his conversation in the middle of the playground in the middle of the day. He thanked the lord there were no kids nearby to hear them that would not be appropriate.

Donghyuk smirks, "you're much more like a baby than you look."

Junhoe pockets his hands feeling very small. He had just rambled about all his insecurities, after all.

"I think the dense one is you," Donghyuk flicks Junhoe's forehead and frowns, "do you think I grab all my student's hands? I'd get fucking arrested! This isn't parasite or some shit. What do you think I was doing while you were in the bathroom with the water on?" Junhoe looks at him cluelessly as if to ask what he was doing. Donghyuk's cheeks flare up and he waves his hand "anyway, I was just as embarrassed as you were when you were staring at me eating fruits or when your hand accidentally brushed my leg. I'm just an expert at hiding it," Donghyuk huffs and turns away to look at the nothingness far away. It's the first time Junhoe actually notices that Donghyuk's ears turn really red under the curling brown waterfall of hair. "Honestly Koo Junhoe.. how many more hints can I give before you ask me out?" Donghyuk asks.

Junhoe blinks before exclaiming like he's been shot, "WHAT?"

"What!" Donghyuk shouts back, confused as to why Junhoe was the one who was confused.

"I'm supposed to ask?"

Donghyuk lets out an exasperated sigh and slaps his forehead into his palm. "What do you mean 'supposed' to? Am I forcing you here? Is this homework? I was just hoping you'd follow the natural flow and ask first."

"Why is that natural?" Junhoe asks, "Is it a give that I'd ask? Just because I'm bigger than you?"

"Ohhh never mind-" Donghyuk picks up his backpack and starts heading towards his home while Junhoe trudges alone behind him. He pokes at Donghyuk's arm still incredibly perplexed "why is it natural?"

* * *

"I can't believe you lied to me about having bad grades," Donghyuk mutters as they walk into the school gates together

Junhoe laughs smugly and readjusts the two backpacks in his possession. "I never said I had bad grades, I just said I needed a tutor."

"It was IMPLIED!" Donghyuk huffs.

"Yeah, by you," Junhoe cheekily supplies.

"Ahh... Koo Junhoe..."

"Oop, B flat minor, you're pissed!" Junhoe makes a run for it and Donghyuk shrieks at him about death as girls watch with their jaws dropped. Junhoe laughs and sticks his tongue out making windows all over the school look to see the scariest male in the whole student body beaming at a clearly peeved school president. The reactions are a mix between "poor Donghyuk sunbae~~ he's clearly being bullied" to "is it just me or does it look like Koo Junhoe's definitely at a disadvantage here?" to "take a picture!!! I ship it!!"

High school rumors are fast. By lunch time the whole school is curious. There are a few options: 1. Donghyuk owes money 2. Junhoe is trying to make Donghyuk's life hell just because he's bored or 3.(as the BL fanclub inconspicuously tries to start this one) it's the bad boy and angel troupe and they're dating. Nobody knows the actual answer and everybody's afraid to ask Junhoe so Donghyuk eventually ends up getting flocked to which his response is as Donghyuk as ever:

"Ahahah, don't misunderstand guys! He's not a bad guy! He's our same-class friend, we should all get along!"

It very quickly made a lot of sense then:

"Ohhhhh our sweetheart angel Mr. President! You're so loving to take Junhoe under your wing."

"He was such a loner before I was also sad for him ~~although scared as well tbh~~. We'll follow your example Donghyuk and be nice to him!"

"Donghyuk, you're so kind you can even open up the jjang's heart!"

The girls immediately put into action their 'we should pity this poor misunderstood loner Junhoe' plan and offer him bread as well as drinks with every conceivable chance. They give him their notebooks and stickies and ask if he needs any help on projects. As if he'd need their help. Junhoe pops a vein at this. Donghyuk. That lil shit. Here he was building up his rep as the 'jjang' and living a quiet life and now he had these girls who were trying to save him as they cosplayed angelic friendly kdrama mains. A joke. All because of Donghyuk and his deceptive little smile. If only they knew.

Donghyuk comes to clear the girls away with his bright smile and sweet words, "I think Junhoe's shy with all the sudden attention! I'll help him!"

"Oh of course!" the girl leans over to whisper and wink at Donghyuk, "how unthoughtful of us, he probably needs to adjust slowly."

Donghyuk nods and plays along, "right?"

She leaves and Junhoe snaps a pencil in half while shaking his leg uncontrollably, "Ya. Do you wanna die?"

Donghyuk gives a killer eyesmile and leans in to whisper into Junhoe's ear "fucking try it, baby."

* * *

"I thought you were a cub but it turns out I've raised a tiger," Donghyuk angrily grits his teeth. He's pressed against the grey stall door in a less than comfortable position and clearly irked.

"I told you I'm a fast learner," Junhoe mutters as he yanks Donghyuk's belt out of the hook and fumbles with the button of his pants.

"Ahh, I'll do it," Donghyuk may have sounded like he was annoyed, but he was just desperate for some measure of relief. Junhoe had been subtly touching his thigh under the lab table throughout bio and it was driving him insane. He almost forgot to turn the burner down when the fumes started bubbling in the liquid. Junhoe had to do it for him and even had the audacity to say, "we don't want anything to spill." Donghyuk wanted to spit in his face, but as the old saying goes 'you can't spit on a smiling face.' Ahhh he can't believe this the one he calls his boyfriend.

They were sure that this bathroom on the third floor never got used which is why they usually skipped literature or history to come here. The door suddenly being shoved open makes them freeze mid action. Thankfully their schools' men's bathroom has 2 stalls and after a lot of social scrutiny all stalls throughout had to completely be closed off so a camera or something heinous couldn't be slid under while someone was taking care of business. Donghyuk's waiting while praying to god they just finish quickly, but Junhoe has a different idea.

Donghyuk's eyes almost pop out of his head as Junhoe takes his huge hand and cover Donghyuk's mouth. His palm alone envelops half of Donghyuk's face while his free arm slides straight up his half buttoned shirt. Donghyuk has raised a monster. He takes his comparably smaller left hand up to press Junhoe's palm harder against his mouth in fear the person humming obliviously next to them can hear. Using his right he grips the small coat hook on the stall door in a desperate attempt to stay upright. Junhoe bites down on Donghyuk's shoulder to silence himself but inadvertently lets out a low grunt just as the other occupant flushes. The sink runs and as the door closes Donghyuk bites Junhoe's finger.

"AHH!"

"You're seriously crazy Koo Ju-unhoe!"

Junhoe buries his nose into the dip between of Donghyuk's neck and shoulder while closing his eyes.

"Who said to look so sexy waiting?"

"Shut the hell up."

Junhoe wordlessly pulls away and starts unraveling toilet paper to clean them up when Donghyuk shoves him back so he's standing again.

"What the hell?"

Donghyuk glares while sinking to his knees, "this is revenge... let's skip math as well."


End file.
